ASE10 Monday Keynote: Frank Luntz

Monday of Affiliate Summit started off with a keynote by author Frank Luntz, who most notably wrote the book Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear, which I own but haven’t yet read.  The book came out a few years ago and was gifted to me by Shawn Collins, who highly recommended it and, from all I heard before summit, was very excited to have Mr. Luntz as the keynote to start off the conference.

Considering I focused on creative writing in college (specifically as a playwright, but that’s another story), the idea of using different words to illicit a different response from people fascinates me.  So I was very interested to hear some actionable items and learn some psychological wordsmith tactics to use in my writing.  Unfortunately, I was distracted during the first few minutes attempting to get the conference wifi to work on my laptop so I could tweet some nice tidbits out to folks (and check my email, I’ll admit).  I had to finally give up and accept that the wifi had reached user capacity and I was too late to hop on.   So I missed some stuff, and I’m sad to report that the speaker’s contract prohibited filming… bummer.  So here’s what I did pick up!

Bullet Point Review!

• Names matter – there’s a right and a wrong way to say things.
• The word “imagine” transcends culture.
• Click on the image above for the 21 Words for the 21st Century.
• Inspire is the closest way to get people to do things.
• Cleaner, safer, healthier = all are better ways to say sustainability.
• Efficient & hassle free are good terms.
• “Security” means there’s something to be afraid of, whereas “peace of mind” means less worrying.
• “Committment” is stronger than “guarantee”.  Only 9% of people believe the word “pledge” to be trustworthy.
• The word “value” has increased in importance.
• “Service” is a more human component – you want to humanize your products.  “Product” is more emotional.
• The younger the target audience is, the shorter your sentences need to be with less syllables, more examples and metaphors.
• The most powerful form of communication is rhetorical questions.
• The average American loses their job and runs out of savings in just 5 weeks.
• Young target audiences want their products to be customized, personalized, and humanized.
• People complain about security and privacy, but it’s actually their last priority.
• Color is less important than the visual itself on websites.
• If you’re under age 30, you prefer digital interaction over talking to people.
• Men want more money, women want more time.